jammy jams

About a month ago, I was in Perth for a quick holiday.  It was a bit of a weekend thing with my mum, and at a time where it felt like Melbourne's winter would never end - a quick trip to a warmer climate was exactly what I needed.  Pretty high on my list of things to do, was check out Freo Markets.  I'd heard good things and was keen to see if it lived up to the hype.  Believe me,  it did.

It was by pure chance that Jude Blereau, one of my favourite wholefoods chefs was doing a demonstration on making organic produce work for you.  I grabbed a raw smoothie and settled in.  Jude spoke for over an hour on all things delicious, wholefoods and organic, but something that really stuck with me was her suggestions on how to make a bumper harvest work for you.  When you have something in abundance, make the most of the opportunity, and store it for later.  You can do this by stewing fruit, making relishes and chutneys or...making some jam. It's old school, DIY, and reduces wastage - all things I am for.

I picked up a copy of Jude's latest book titled "Coming Home to Eat- Wholefoods for the Family" and it is beautiful.  Whilst it's not all vegan,  a lot of the recipes are, or can easily be adapted.  All of the recipes are nourishing, delicious and fairly simple to prepare.  There is a handy little chapter on preserving the harvest, and that's where I got the inspiration for today's jam - Fresh Strawberry, Vanilla Bean and Cinnamon.
It was my first attempt at jam and I'm not going to lie, at times it was a bit stressful at times but totally worthwhile - my house smells like strawberry lollies and I have 8 beautiful little jars of homemade jam for gifting and toast.

Fresh Strawberry, Vanilla Bean and Cinnamon Jam
(adapted slightly from here)

Seeds of 1 vanilla pod
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

300 grams sugar

1 kilogram strawberries, washed & hulled

2 tablespoons lemon juice

pinch of salt 

Run your knife down the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds.  Add with the pod to the washed and hulled strawberries and sugar. Add lemon juice and cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Roughly chop the strawberries up a bit, but leave some large chunks. Put on a medium heat to bring to a gentle simmer and leave to cook for about 10 minutes. Using a ladle remove the white scum from the top and leave to cool. Place in sterilized jars and store in the refrigerator.

super cute huh?

gluten free pear and dark chocolate crumble.

Crumble of any sort is very popular in my house. I love stewed fruit and my boyfriend thinks that the crumble-y topping is pretty much the best thing ever.  I've recently started converting all of our favourite sweet treats to a healthier, gluten free option.  It's worked well sometimes, and... not so well others.  There's been a lot of rock cupcakes, but things are improving.
About a month or so ago, I went to my pal Sarah's house for dinner.  She had recently gone gluten free and I said I'd make a desert - Sarah loves apple crumble, so I said I'd make it happen.  It happened alright, it happened in a most amazing way.  This time I've modified the recipe again to include Buerre Bosc Pears (in season right now!) and to jazz it up a bit, dark chocolate. I'm also pretty obsessed with including seeds in my baking at the moment, so I've added some seeds to the topping to healthy it up a bit!


8 Buerre Bosc Pears
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1 block (i know! you can use as little or as much as you like, think of the antioxidants!) of lindt dark chocolate


1 cup quinoa flakes
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup buckwheat four
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
3 tablespoon rice milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
pinch teaspoon salt
handful of sesame seeds
handful of pepitas/pumpkin seeds


Directions
Preheat oven to about 180C

Chop up pears,  I like it a bit chunky but whatever suits you. Dissolve the arrowroot in water and set aside.  Place pears in a baking dish of your choice and add the sugar and spice, mix it all in and pour the arrowroot mix over the top. After you have done this, smash up the chocolate and place all over the top. It should look a bit like this:

Pretty impressive huh?  To prepare the topping, in a medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Add oil, rice milk, and vanilla.  I like to use my hands here to really combine the wet and dry ingredients, you might also need a little more coconut oil.  I like to use coconut oil for two reasons, the first being that I like the subtle coconut taste it adds to my baking.  Secondly,  it's stable at high temperatures, which means it won't oxidize and become a nasty oil.

 Crumble topping over the apples, and sprinkle sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds over the top.

Bake for 45 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

good morning sailor!

As are most people, when it comes to breakfast I am a creature of habit.  I like something to be super tasty and filling.  I'm not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination so it has to be easy. Museli fits all of the criteria for me, but most commercial cereals either have a bucket of sugar per serving, have been processed to within an inch of their life or contain honey (which, is a grey area for vegans - i avoid it).

 Enter Loving Earth's Raw Activated Deluxe Buckini's.  The activated buckwheat (which actually isn't a wheat at all!) is caramelized with agave, cinnamon and mesquite is mixed in with a whole bunch of superfoods such as goji berries, chia seeds, activated pepitas, and activated nuts. delicious!

It covers my morning sugar requirements without being too sweet and keeps me full until my mid morning snack. Here is my breakfast this morning.  I added bonsoy, organic strawberries and an organic banana. I've been enjoying this so much that I am excited to get out of bed and get to the kitchen so I can eat this!

I should also mention that this product is vegan, gluten free and low GI.

let's start with the greens!

So, let’s try this thing, and ease into things pretty easily with some things that I’m currently reading and eating.
Firstly, my current superhero is Brendan Brazier.  He is a Vegan Triathlete from Canada, who has written several books about “high net gain plant based nutrition”.  His book Thrive explains how the western, over processed diet is affecting our health, and how he believes that a plant based diet (with supplementation) is beneficial for the body.
There are two things I really like about Brazier.  The first is that he isn’t just out there making wild claims about a vegan diet, which many books and blogs seem to be doing at the moment.  The benefits he lists are pretty obvious, and backed up with reference to excellent research.    The second thing I like is that he doesn’t just talk about the benefits of a plant based diet, he gives you the tools to make it easy to incorporate into your own lifestyle, with a diet and exercise plan and a truckload of excellent recipes.  We make his recipes pretty much everyday and from the recovery puddings to the almond and linseed burgers, it all tastes excellent, is nourishing and filling, and really easy to make.
http://www.brendanbrazier.com/
He also offers a series of online tutorials called Thrive in 30 which are excellent, short videos full of practical and interesting information that are FREE!  Sign up here:
http://thrivein30.com/sign-up-now/
A blog that I have really enjoyed lately is the Vegan RD.  This site is by Ginny Kisch Messina, MPH, RD, a dietician in the US. Her blog is excellent, and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in achieving a nutritionally balanced and correctly supplemented Vegan or Vegetarian lifestyle.  She offers easy to understand advice on supplementation for vegans, a vegan food guide, and regularly critically reviews books and internet articles.  She focuses on dispelling myths about vegan diets, and also has some interesting social commentary style posts regarding the vegan community.  A not so recent post of hers that I have really enjoyed was her review of a new book called ‘The Vegetarian Myth’ by an ex-vegan called Lierre Keith.
Anyway, below is a link to her excellent blog:
www.theveganrd.com
As for the leafy greens?  Currently, I am obsessed with all things leafy and green.  From Kale, to Rainbow Chard I’m enjoying them all a lot at the moment and incorporating them into my meals twice a day.  For anything leafy, I think simple is best.  I’ve been lightly steaming them, drizzling with some flaxseed oil and sprinkling sesame seeds over the top. So simple, so delicious, so good for you.